


Coming Clean

by The_Unqualified1



Series: Painkiller Paralogues [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Hospital Confessions, Open Ending, childhood best friends catching feelings, cracked collarbones, implied background hildagard, loopy Byleth, panicked Edelgard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26047633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Unqualified1/pseuds/The_Unqualified1
Summary: Byleth has been avoiding her best friend turned crush.Now she’s been crushed.Now they’re gonna have to talk it out in the emergency room.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Painkiller Paralogues [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890841
Comments: 20
Kudos: 91





	Coming Clean

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a very silly project that spawned other silly projects, and I think the best way I can describe this is it was a scene I wanted to tell, turned one-shot, turned... nine-shot 😂
> 
> The idea was so fun of putting Byleth on painkillers and making her do stuff that I couldn't put it down. this is the first one.
> 
> Enjoy!

Byleth’s phone blipped from its spot on the nightstand. She rolled over and lifted the screen, letting the blueish light wash over the dim room. It was the early afternoon, but all the curtains were drawn.

There was a new message notification.

**_Claude:_ ** _ Stop being a mopey ass, come outside. We’re meeting up with the bois to play some flag football. _

Byleth groaned and rolled away from it, ignoring the outside world. As she had been for weeks now. The phone rang a second later, and Byleth sighed into her pillow, reaching for it and sliding the screen to answer.

“What?” She said to Claude, knowing he was on the other end.

“I saw your read notification. I know you saw it. And we’re about to be outside your place, so you gotta get your shit together, get outta bed, and come play some flag football with the bois.”

She sighed at his words and stared pensively across the room. She’d been doing her best to stay away… away from people that would ask her why her world was spiraling and crumbling when the only answers she could give were pathetic. She felt pathetic.

“I really don’t want to…” Byleth said, knowing it was a lousy response.

“Yeah, well no one wants to eat kale, or go to the dentist, or snake a drain, but it’s shit we do all the same. This is like that.” He said it seemingly flat, but added a bit of warmth at the end. “It’ll be good. Come on, everyone’s worried about you.”

She knew who everyone included without him saying… and she gulped thinking about the calls she hadn’t returned, the messages she’d shut down, the lack of lines she’d cast out into the world as of late. Instead allowing herself to mope over something she had no right to mourn.

It still felt too soon... but she knew he was right. This couldn’t continue.

And though she wasn’t ready to face  _ her _ yet… Claude being Hilda’s friend gave a level of separation.

“Ok… I’ll be out in a minute.” She agreed.

“Perf! Bring your A-game.”

It was a start.

_ Well this felt fitting. _ She thought as she hit the ground.

_ Fuck! _ Was her second thought as she felt a crack. She heard Claude mirror her expletive and a hand on her back. 

“Jesus Raph! Iggy, get my phone.”

More voices spoke, but she blocked them out, too distracted by the pain centralized to her collarbone.

She’d sweat through her shirt after their hours of surprisingly aggressive flag football, and the ground beneath her was damp. Must’ve been why she slipped so easily when Raph tried to knock her back. His hulking frame came crashing down on her.

She could feel the mud cling to her skin through the fabric. A storm cloud rumbled off in the distance. She kept her eyes closed and teeth grit trying to focus on these other sensations to distract from the searing pain in her shoulder.

There were voices making plans, panicking, attempting to soothe. Raph apologizing a thousand times.

She wished she’d stayed home.

The phone rang, and Edelgard fished it out of her purse and pressed it between her shoulder and ear as she was organizing a stack of documents. 

“Hello?” She curiously greeted.

“Hey, Edelgard?” Claude sounded nervous on the other side.

“Claude. What’s going on? Everything ok?” It wasn’t often he called her.

“Umm… yeah, yeah everything's fine. Well… not fine. Well, ok, so… some news…” She was struggling to follow his ramblings.

“Claude, Claude. Calm down. Tell me what’s going on?” Her mind jumped to the worst case that he may be hurt, but it was probably something more along the lines of having a flat tire, or maybe as banal as losing his favorite comb.

“It’s Byleth.”

She dropped the papers she was holding.

Byleth sat through the ambulance ride, feeling every bump like an explosion of needles in her arm. Answering all their questions. Focusing on her breathing. Laughing internally at the turn of events, but maybe that was the start of the painkillers taking over. She’d welcome them.

  
  


Edelgard arrived at the hospital in a flash, all but running through the clinical halls. When she arrived at her destination. She walked straight into the room to see her oldest friend in a hospital gown, her arm wrapped in a tight sling, and a goofy grin on her face as she recognized her.

“Hiiiiiii Elllllllll.” Byleth said with a fuzzy smile, evidence of the narcotics hitting her bloodstream.

“Byleth what the hell?” Edelgard said, arms raised in a gesture of confusion.

“You… you're mad, you look mad.” Byleth furrowed her brow, trying to focus.

“Mad? I’m furious. Are you ok?? What happened? Who hurt you??” Edelgard said, confusion and worry mixing as she came to sit next to her.

“I got squashed. Like this.” Byleth very focusedly pressed her hands together and made a ‘pllfffff’ sound effect.

“How?” Edelgard asked, trying to decipher.

“Flag football… with Claude’s friends. Most are small… but one big guy. He squashed me. like a bug by the toilet bowl. Boooowlllll.  _ Booooowwwlllllllll _ . What a weird word.”

Edelgard sighed, and took her friend's hand.

“Why were you hanging out with those guys anyway? Didn’t know you were still playing flag football.”

“They were trying to help me I guessssss.” Byleth said, flopping against her pillows.

“Help you? With what?”

“Getting over you.” Byleth said softly.

“Get… getting over me?” Edelgard’s heart clenched for a second.  _ She… she couldn’t mean... _

“Yeah… you’re pretty short too so you think it’d be easy.” Byleth giggled at her own joke, then turned her head to look at the hand still holding hers. She stared in a stupor and moved her thumb slowly across her palm.

“Your hands are so soft… that’s something I always… Always loved about them. But I can’t... love that anymore.” She gently dragged her nail against the skin as her expression turned melancholy.

“It’s not fair… not fair to you.” Byleth stared at the band and tapped her finger on the diamonds.

“Cause you have a ring… a ring on those soft hands… It’s a nice ring. You deserve a nice ring.” Byleth breathed in and out, still staring so focused. “But it’s... cold. Like winter… or  _ spoons _ … It’s cold to me… cause it’s not mine. But it’s warm to you… cause it is yours. And that’s… that's good.” Byleth looked at her seriously. “Your ring… is warm right?”

Edelgard was still staring stunned but nodded slightly and Byleth mirrored the nod.

“That’s what matters… You’re what masters. Mattress.”  _ Pfffttttt. _ Byleth laughed again and shook her head, giving up on the word.

“So I’m playing flag football… or I was until I got squashed.”

She turned to look at the ceiling and sighed, her grip on Edelgard’s hand loosening.

“Do…” Byleth looked serious once more. “Do squash… grow year round?”

“Squash?” Edelgard asked, her heart rate still not quite normal.

“They only seem to sell… pumpkins. Pumpkin squash. Only in October. Pumpkins only grow in October? That’s gotta be a conspiracy…” She chuckled again, her eyes looking heavy and fluttering closed.

Edelgard never released her hand. Lightbulbs going off and flashing in haphazard patterns. Dots connecting she hadn’t considered. And now she sat here, looking at her oldest friend with a revelation upon her shoulders. She was thankful she was at a hospital in case she had a sudden heart attack.

When Byleth woke she had a dull ache in her shoulder and head, but mostly just felt exhausted. It had been a trying time and more than anything… she was missing her best friend. She had the foggy dream of her sitting by her side… holding her hand… and she missed it. The residual warmth… the shadow of someone like family. Her feelings were still confusing, but the deeper hum of missing her… far outweighed the mourning of something she never could have had… the choice felt obvious. She’d swallow her embarrassment and her pride and see if there was a way to fix what she’d broken. First thing was first, time to get out of this hospital cot.

Edelgard sat in the corridor, feet bouncing, fingers fiddling. She’d been there an hour or so, her friend's words replaying in her head over and over. What was she supposed to say to her? What could she do for her? She was staring into the tiles so intently that when she heard the voice nearby she nearly jumped out of her seat.

“E… Edelgard?”

Byleth was standing there, back in her stained shirt and gym shorts, arm in a sling and a small white bag of meds and pamphlets in her non bound hand.

“Hey… what’re you doing here?” She asked.

“You don’t remember? Claude called me. I was listed as your emergency contact.” Edelgard answered gently, trying to gauge her. Byleth looked embarrassed.

“Shoot… I’m sorry El. I know you’re busy, hope I didn’t drag you away from anything important.”

“No no, nothing of the sort. It’s no trouble… and honestly… I was glad to see you.” She said softly, still trying to figure out where they were at. The soft smile on her lips was answer enough. It was that same look when they were kids and she’d put a bandaid on her scraped knee. That same smile when she carried her home in college after they’d had too much to drink at happy hour. That same smile, minus the tears, when she’d sat with her after her dad had finally passed from his long fight with cancer, letting her know she wasn’t alone. That little smile was something she’d missed for far too long…

“Wish it was under better circumstances…” Byleth said motioning at her sling.

“Me too. But a girl will take what she can get.” Edeglard added, trying to match the attempted ease between them. It was nice how seamlessly it returned. Byleth huffed a laugh and cupped her arm closer in the sling. “Come on, let me get you home.” Edelgard added, motioning for her to come closer, and she did with a nod. Falling in step with her as they headed for the garage.

As they walked Edelgard studied her in her peripherals. She looked deep in thought herself and before she could think how to begin to breach their last conversation, Byleth beat her to it.

“Hey… I wanted to say I’m sorry. I know I’ve been gone lately... kinda disappeared on you… I’ve just been dealing with some stuff.”

Edelgard swallowed, and it felt like sawdust with the information her friend didn’t know she’d given her weighing on her mind.

“But I’m going to get better.” She added, staring with that determined look in her eye. “I promise. I’m not going to let this… thing win.”

Edelgard nods as they near her car.

“Is it something I can help with?” Edelgard tried, carefully bridging the gap.   
“No.” She answered immediately. “I… I appreciate you asking, I really do. But it’s something I think only I can fix.”

Edelgard nodded, feeling some of the tension from before leaving. But still…

“You really… don’t remember talking to me when you were in the emergency room?”

Byleth shook her head.

“Did I say anything embarrassing?”

They came to stop at the door and Edelgard looked ahead at the reflection of her friend, considering what to say.  _ You said you loved me, but couldn’t. You told me why you’d disappeared. _

“You told me…” Edelgard paused, hand on the door gripping tighter. “You told me that it’s a conspiracy that pumpkins only grow in October.”

Byleth laughed something familiar and sweet. Cherished and reminiscent and oh so lacking in her life as of late. Edelgard found herself laughing with her and her grip slackened enough to open the door for her friend and help her in.

“Well I think I was right.” Byleth added, taking her seat. “Can you explain it?”

“No, definitely a conspiracy. Afterall, we can grow strawberries year round.” Edelgard said, leaning against the car door.

“Right?” Byleth exclaimed. “Drugged Byleth was onto something.” She leaned back into her head rest, still looking so tired. But a soft line of a smile.

“Yeah… she was.”

She closed the door gently and walked around to her side, sliding in and keying the ignition. She let the engine hum a second, and stared at her steering wheel.

“Everything ok?” Byleth asked, looking intently at her.

“Yeah.” She deflected, putting on a quick smile. She studied her friend as if looking at her for the first time. Noticing the posture in her shoulders. The way she gently tapped her fingers on her thigh. “Yeah, definitely.” She added, turning on the radio and backing out of the space.

There was a lot on her mind. A lot on the horizon that they’d have to address. But right now… she was content. With her co-pilot back riding shotgun, and the sun in the sky pouring through the windows of her Lexus.

It was a start.

**Author's Note:**

> So... this is a little different than what I normally write. And yes, I have many other projects I should be working on, thank you for pointing that out 😂 but I got the weird privilege of pinging ideas off of the lovely Cafe_Au_Late and this idea came from it after the piece they wrote linked below. A bunch of us started pitching potential sequel follow ups to that story, and this was a scene I liked a lot. One where I didn’t necessarily want to go much further, but it got down to the idea of confessing you have feelings for someone while on painkillers and then not remembering it.  
> That just seemed so fun.  
> And I couldn’t let the idea go.
> 
> LINKED STORY: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25137733
> 
> So what came from it was a series of other pitches for things Byleth could or would do on painkillers that would be entertaining, and each one (because I adore Edeleth so) explores a different kind of relationship between them. So these will be fun little one shots floating in the background of my other projects. I got lots of Olympics stuff coming down the pipes, and After Stockholm made some big break throughs this week! And another secret project I can’t talk about yet! So I’ll be around :) hope all you all will too! ❤️


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